Hello all! My name is Frida Knoke, I am the creator and artist behind Serafina by Frida. I am an artist from Sydney, Australia, who specialises mostly in watercolour painting, illustration, and ceramics. I am a highly experimental artist who revels in the opportunity to utilise exciting new materials and mediums for my works.

This passion for exploration in art has led to a unique and playful nature in my pieces which I love sharing with others. While I have a deep seeded love of discovering new ways to be creative, I find myself consistently pulled back to my roots of clay and watercolour paint, which I believe best showcase my ideas and visions.

My painting and drawing journey have been a path I have always travelled, it’s something that I have enjoyed for as long as I can remember. Ceramics on the other hand came later in my life when I attended the National Art School in Sydney and discovered the many wonders of clay and soon realised I can integrate my love of painting and colour into my ceramic creations.

My inspiration draws heavily from both the fantastical and the real, a fusion of the beauty of natural landscapes, flora and fauna and the childhood dreams and mythologies I encountered growing up. My passion for the natural world stems from the majestic forests of Scandinavia and the beautiful beaches of Australia, a representation of my dual heritage and love of these lands. My dive into the world of fantasy pulls inspiration from the whimsical elements from Finnish and Swedish folk lore, which showcase the uniqueness and magic of these lands and the stories which inhabit them. I often fondly turn to my old children’s books that were read to me in Swedish and take inspiration from the beautiful illustrations of trolls, fairies, mushrooms, woodland creatures, and fairy tale beings.

I have a strong love for using bright colours found in the natural world like the vibrant reds of chilli and gorgeous pinks of flowers grown in my family’s garden, the spectacular blues, purples, and greens found on nudibranchs and fish of Manly or the happy yellows of mushrooms and the splashes of colour that various berries add to my Mormor’s (grandmother in Sweden) garden.

My artworks attempt to integrate these explosive displays of colour into the context of the equally powerful stories and fairy tales that inspire me. I use mostly earthenware, occasionally stoneware clay for my pieces and paint them with detailed designs and colours using underglaze. My works range from functional ware to strange and wonderful sculptural forms. My painting and drawing works are detailed illustrations of the things I love following the themes mentioned above.

Everything I create is made with so much love and passion which I hope shines through each piece to bring a little joy and magic into your home and life.